U.S. President Barack Obama told the United Nations on Wednesday that the Palestinians deserved a state of their own, but that this would only be achieved through talks with Israel.
“I am convinced that there is no short cut to the end of a conflict that has endured for decades. Peace will not come through statements and resolutions at the UN,” Mr. Obama said in a speech to the UN General Assembly.
“Ultimately, it is Israelis and Palestinians -- not us -- who must reach agreement on the issues that divide them: on borders and security; on refugees and Jerusalem,” the text of his speech said.
Mr. Abbas was expected to deliver a formal request for statehood recognition on Friday when he speaks to the General Assembly. But it could take weeks or months for the UN to act on the Palestinians' request.
“The president will say, frankly, the same thing in private that he'll say in public, which is that we do not believe that this is the best course of action for achieving Palestinian aspirations,” White House deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes said.
And while Mr. Obama will formally ask Mr. Abbas not to pursue the statehood bid, the mission is actually directed at containing the fallout by urging the Palestinian leader not to push for an actual vote in the Council, where the U.S. has promised a veto. A delay would give international peacemakers time to produce a statement that would be the basis for resumed Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.
Mr. Obama will also meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who arrived in New York early on Wednesday.
Mr. Sarkozy met with Mr. Abbas on Tuesday, and diplomats close to the talks said the French leader told the Palestinian leader that he would outline a proposal for the Palestinians to seek upgraded status with the General Assembly, where no member holds a veto. The resolution would be designed to make Palestine a nonmember observer state, raising its status from that of permanent observer. The diplomats spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private talks.
In carefully orchestrated demonstrations, thousands of flag-waving Palestinians rallied Wednesday in towns across the West Bank to show support for their president's bid for UN recognition.
Civil servants and schoolchildren were given time off to participate. Despite the largely low-key mood, a new poll indicated an overwhelming majority supports Mr. Abbas' quest for UN recognition of a state in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem, the areas Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast War.
With Mr. Abbas determined to seek membership rather than upgraded status, the Palestinian delegation relentlessly knocked on diplomatic doors at the UN trying to sell their case for international recognition.
Netanyahu, issued dire warnings against hasty action as he boarded his jet for New York. Mr. Obama plans to meet with Mr. Netanyahu as well as Mr. Abbas.
The issue of the unilateral Palestinian declaration of statehood, born of decades of frustration and failed negotiations with Israel, has consumed diplomats who are gathering for Wednesday's opening of the annual UN General Assembly ministerial meeting.
Mr. Abbas has rejected all attempts to steer him away from formally submitting an application for full U.N. membership.
For his part, Netanyahu, in a meeting with members of his hardline Likud Party before leaving Jerusalem late Tuesday, vowed to speak “the truth” in New York — “the truth of a people that wants peace, a nation that was attacked time after time and that is being attacked time after time by those that don't oppose our policies but rather our very existence.”
He said he would warn world leaders against prematurely establishing a Palestinian state when many issues in the conflict must still be resolved. He did not elaborate, saying this would be the focus of his speech to the UN on Friday, scheduled shortly after Mr. Abbas speaks.
Source: The Globe and Mail
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